Valerie LaPointe

Valerie LaPointe (born August 4, 1981) is an American director and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios.

Early life LaPointe was born in Norfolk, Virginia. When she was in the third grade, she watched The Little Mermaid (1989), and began drawing the character Ariel. "It really struck a chord and inspired me," LaPointe said, "I kind of became fixated on everything about it." At eight years old, she decided being an animator was her career goal. Her family moved to Kempsville. When she was 12, she wrote a letter addressed to Walt Disney Pictures with a pitch idea for a film. The studio mailed back, stating that they don't accept outside pitches, but they sent her an information packet of recommended art schools and their curriculum programs. It became one of the top eight finalists for the 2006 Student Academy Awards.

Career In 2006, LaPointe became an apprentice story artist for Pixar's inaugural story internship program; she was in a class with eight other interns, including Adrian Molina. She graduated from USC in 2007 with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and was hired as a full-time employee for Pixar. For her work on Toy Story 4, she was credited as one of the eight story writers.

By the end of 2018, the Toy Story 4 story team was approached to produce an animated spin-off short film. LaPointe pitched a short film based on Bo Peep, adapting story ideas that were cut from Toy Story 4.

In 2019, Variety named LaPointe as one of the top ten American animators to watch for. with LaPointe directing several episodes alongside Mike Jones and Austin Madison.

Personal life LaPointe is married to Matthew Luhn, and she has two daughters. She lives in Oakland, California.

Filmography Films

Shorts

Television series Year Title Director Writer Notes 2024Dream Productions 2 episodes